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Trend urges IT pros to "Think Again'

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Trend Micro, a Tokyo-based provider of antivirus, antispam and Internet security software and services, wanted to promote its new enterprise Internet security solution, Smart Protection Network. Its biggest challenge in doing so, however, was overcoming complacency among its target audience of IT professionals, said Susan Orbuch, senior VP-corporate marketing.
“One of the things we'd been encountering with IT pros is that they were really hesitant to change what their Internet security was,” she said. “For the most part, they generally think, "My current solution works fine and is good enough.' ”
To get IT administrators' attention and shake them out of that complacency, Trend Micro and its advertising agency, PJA Advertising & Marketing, San Francisco, last December introduced a print and online campaign dubbed “Think Again.” Print ads ran in such publications as BusinessWeek, Information Week and Network World, and online executions ran on sites such as Dark Reading, TechWeb and ZDNet. In the first phase of the campaign, online ads took viewers to a landing page where they could download an e-book or sign up for an on-site security assessment with a Trend Micro representative. In the second phase of the campaign, in addition to downloading the e-book, prospects could calculate their total cost of ownership for security.
Campaign creative featured torn-out newspaper headlines about recent malware attacks and security breaches, such as the TJX Cos. security breach, in which millions of credit card numbers were stolen. “We decided that IT professionals are smart people and they're not going to believe things just because we say them,” Orbuch said. “So we decided to make it a data-driven campaign.”
The idea for the creative came from language Trend Micro CEO Eva Chen had been using at speaking engagements with groups of senior IT executives, said Frank Schumacher, senior VP-managing director of PJA Advertising. “What was working for Eva on the road was saying, "If you think your current Internet security solution is protecting you against all these new, sophisticated Web threats and malware attacks that are happening, then think again,' ” he said. “That language really resonated with everyone with whom she spoke. When we heard she was getting a lot of traction with it, we said, "That's a great campaign idea.' ”
The campaign has been hugely successful, Orbuch said, exceeding all Trend Micro's expectations. The average click-through rate for the campaign's online ads is 0.16%, she said, and was recently as high as 0.22%. Almost 350 qualified prospects requested an onsite assessment of their networks, she said. Overall, after six months, the campaign helped generate more than 5,000 leads. In addition, the company has closed more than 150 enterprise contracts, with more in the pipeline. “Our CEO has said she feels like it's the most successful advertising campaign we've run at the company,” Orbuch said. “It's caught fire inside the organization, too, and created a lot of excitement [for us] as a company. The campaign really hit a nerve.” M